Tag Archives: Spring cleaning

It was going to be a solid Memorial Day. I really only had one thing on the must-do list. And that was to clean the garage since, you know, it’s May and the weather will fall perfectly in the low 80’s, right?

First thing that happened, my glasses broke so I had to wear my old, scratched lenses pair.

Second thing, I was supposed to have a phone meeting this morning about a writerly project. It was a pretty nice morning so I thought (about 10 minutes before the scheduled start), “Hey, why not move the computer, notebooks, beverages, writing instruments, etc. outside to enjoy the outdoors?

So I scramble around and get set up. I powered up the laptop and logged in. Guess what? The low battery warning started flashing! I didn’t have it plugged into the charger properly. I rush into the house, get the charger, get the extension cord, and solve that issue with a few minutes to spare.

Five minutes into the meeting, a friendly bird deposited its friendly digestive waste material smack onto my laptop screen. Friendly bird is probably a slight misnomer as judging from the size of the poo spread across the screen, that bird may have been a condor. Fortunately, Mrs. Hays just made some handcrafted table coverings for the patio table and this particular one is very similar in color and design to the friendly bird poo.

With the monitor clean and clear, the meeting goes well and we’re cruising right along the road of creative accomplishment. The sun rises over the garage and is shining full intensity on the patio table. It’s hot and needless to say, the corner of the tablecloth dries rapidly. Mid-sentence, my phone beeps, and the line goes dead. My attention is drawn to the high-temperature warning on the phone and the small print advises me to cool the phone down before it will function.

Meeting over…

Third thing, the garage. Okay, for the record, there really isn’t a good weather situation to clean a garage. But instead of the hopeful low 80’s, slight breeze, beautiful May day I had in my dreams, it’s 98. And humid. And there’s barely a breeze blowing except for the one which continually slams the door shut. A miserable job made even more miserable.

Well, the garage is clean. The garage gym is in order and has shed its layer of winter dust and junk being stacked on, in, and around the exercise areas. Since I was already sweaty and dirty and grumpy, I went ahead and did the first FamFit workout of the year. There was also a bonus because I was able to catch a few episodes of our local radio station’s annual playback of their archived Memorial Day interviews with local veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf Wars.

So, all in all, it was a successful Memorial Day 2018. I’ll get my glasses fixed this week. The writerly meeting went well. The garage is clean. My legs are sore as hell. I talked to my mother, had dinner with my family and am now watching my favorite team, the KC Royals. Pretty solid, right?

Oh yeah, the most important thing?

I’m thankful for the sacrifice of our veterans and their families who made my day, including all its trivial ups and the downs, possible.